In new financial disclosure documents, President Donald Trump reported reimbursing his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, for an expenditure over $100,000 last year - an apparent reference to the $130,000 that Cohen paid to ensure the silence of an adult-film actress who claimed she'd had an affair with Trump.

In new financial disclosure documents, President Donald Trump reported reimbursing his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, for an expenditure over $100,000 last year - an apparent reference to the $130,000 that

FILE - In this April 26, 2018 file photo, Michael Cohen leaves federal court in New York City. Porn actress Stormy Daniels' lawyer Michael Avenatti, said Monday, May 14, he did nothing wrong by distributing a report last week that detailed the finances of the president's personal attorney, Cohen, and showed he had charged companies a hefty price for "insight" about Trump. less

FILE - In this April 26, 2018 file photo, Michael Cohen leaves federal court in New York City. Porn actress Stormy Daniels' lawyer Michael Avenatti, said Monday, May 14, he did nothing wrong by distributing a ... more

Photo: Seth Wenig, AP

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Michael Avenatti, Stormy Daniel's attorney, is interviewed on the Cheddar network, Thursday, May 10, 2018, in New York.

Michael Avenatti, Stormy Daniel's attorney, is interviewed on the Cheddar network, Thursday, May 10, 2018, in New York.

Photo: Mark Lennihan, AP

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Timeline of the Stormy Daniels scandal.

Timeline of the Stormy Daniels scandal.

Photo: Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images

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Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels

Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels: Actress Stormy Daniels in 2008 in Las Vegas. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, reached a $130,000 deal a month before the 2016 election to keep silent on an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump, according to the Wall Street Journal. less

Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels: Actress Stormy Daniels in 2008 in Las Vegas. Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, reached a $130,000 deal a month before the 2016 election to keep silent on an ... more

Photo: Gabe Ginsberg/Getty Images

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January 2005

Trump marries his current wife, Melania.

January 2005

Trump marries his current wife, Melania.

Photo: JOE AMON, AP

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March 2006

The couple's son, Barron, is born.

March 2006

The couple's son, Barron, is born.

Photo: CHRIS PIZZELLO, REUTERS

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July 2006

According to Daniels, she and Trump began an "intimate relationship" and it continued "well into the year 2007."

July 2006

According to Daniels, she and Trump began an "intimate relationship" and it continued "well into the year 2007."

Cohen acknowledges he paid $130,000 out of his own pocket to Daniels, saying he was not reimbursed by the Trump Organization or the Trump campaign. He notably does not say whether the president personally reimbursed him.

"The payment to Ms. Clifford was lawful, and was not a campaign contribution or a campaign expenditure by anyone," he says in a statement.

Daniels files a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeking to invalidate the nondisclosure agreement. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says Trump has "made very well clear that none of these allegations are true." less

March 7, 2018

Daniels files a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court seeking to invalidate the nondisclosure agreement. White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says Trump has "made very well ... more

Photo: Carolyn Kaster, AP

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March 25, 2018

In a highly anticipated interview with CBS' "60 Minutes," Daniels says she was threatened to keep silent. White House spokesman Raj Shah declines to say whether the president watched the interview but says Trump does not believe any of the claims she made.

"The president strongly, clearly and has consistently denied these underlying claims, and the only person who's been inconsistent is the one making the claims," Shah says.

In his first public comments about Daniels, Trump tells reporters aboard Air Force One that he didn't know about Cohen's payment.

April 5, 2018

In his first public comments about Daniels, Trump tells reporters aboard Air Force One that he didn't know about Cohen's payment.

Photo: DOUG MILLS, NYT

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April 9, 2018

Federal agents in New York raid Cohen's office and a hotel room, seizing records on topics including the payment made to Daniels. Cohen is now facing a criminal investigation in New York.

April 9, 2018

Federal agents in New York raid Cohen's office and a hotel room, seizing records on topics including the payment made to Daniels. Cohen is now facing a criminal investigation in New York.

Photo: Drew Angerer

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April 18, 2018

Trump responds to Daniels releasing an artist's sketch of a man she says threatened her. "A sketch years later about a nonexistent man," Trump tweets. "A total con job, playing the Fake News Media for Fools (but they know it)!"

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, a new addition to Trump's legal team, tells Fox News host Sean Hannity that Trump reimbursed Cohen for the $130,000 paid to Daniels. Giuliani says the money to repay Cohen had been "funneled ... through the law firm and the president repaid it."

Giuliani said the payment "is going to turn out to be perfectly legal. That money was not campaign money."

Asked if Trump knew about the arrangement, Giuliani said: "He didn't know about the specifics of it, as far as I know. But he did know about the general arrangement that Michael would take care of things like this."

On Twitter, Trump acknowledges he repaid Cohen after claiming previously he didn't know about the payments. He said the money "had nothing to do with the campaign."

Trump said Cohen received a monthly retainer, which he used to pay Daniels to sign an agreement not to talk about her allegations and "stop the false and extortionist accusations made by her about an affair."

Sanders later told reporters that she had tried to give them "the very best information we had at the time." She said she first learned that Trump had repaid Cohen while watching Giuliani's interview.

Despite sending tweets the previous day acknowledging that he had repaid Cohen, Trump further muddied the story line by insisting that "virtually everything" reported about the payment to Daniels was wrong. He declined to elaborate. Trump said Giuliani had "just started a day ago" and was still "learning the subject matter" and insisted that "we're not changing any stories."

Donald Trump at the Lake Tahoe golf event in 2006 where the alleged encounter took place.

Donald Trump at the Lake Tahoe golf event in 2006 where the alleged encounter took place.

Photo: DINO VOURNAS/AP

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Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels

Stormy Daniels at a Trump Vodka launch party in 2007.

Stormy Daniels at a Trump Vodka launch party in 2007.

Photo: Gregg DeGuire/WireImage

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Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels

Adult film actresses Stormy Daniels and Jessica Drake. In 2016, Drake also accused then-candidate Donald Trump with unwanted sexual contact during the same Lake Tahoe event in 2006.

Adult film actresses Stormy Daniels and Jessica Drake. In 2016, Drake also accused then-candidate Donald Trump with unwanted sexual contact during the same Lake Tahoe event in 2006.

Photo: Gabe Ginsberg/FilmMagic

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Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels

Jessica Drake (R), who works for an adult film company, stands with a photo of her meeting with Donald Trump, beside attorney Gloria Allred as they talk about allegations of sexual misconduct against the Republican presidential hopeful during a press conference in Los Angeles on October 22, 2016. less

Jessica Drake (R), who works for an adult film company, stands with a photo of her meeting with Donald Trump, beside attorney Gloria Allred as they talk about allegations of sexual misconduct against the ... more

Photo: Mark Ralston / AFP /Getty Images

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Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels

In the 2005 "Access Hollywood" video uncovered in October 2016, Trump could be heard telling Billy Bush that “when you’re a star” you can “grab them by the p—y.”

In the 2005 "Access Hollywood" video uncovered in October 2016, Trump could be heard telling Billy Bush that “when you’re a star” you can “grab them by the p—y.”

Photo: Getty Images

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Rachel Crooks, left, Jessica Leeds, center, and Samantha Holvey attend a news conference, Monday﻿ in New York to discuss their accusations of sexual misconduct against Donald Trump. ﻿

Rachel Crooks, left, Jessica Leeds, center, and Samantha Holvey attend a news conference, Monday﻿ in New York to discuss their accusations of sexual misconduct against Donald Trump. ﻿

Photo: Mark Lennihan, STF

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Donald Trump and Stormy Daniels

Summer Zervos (R), a former contestant on the TV show The Apprentice, who previously accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct, during a press conference with attorney Gloria Allred in Los Angeles, California on November 11, 2016. (Photo by Ronen Tivony/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Summer Zervos (R), a former contestant on the TV show The Apprentice, who previously accused Donald Trump of sexual misconduct, during a press conference with attorney Gloria Allred in Los Angeles, California

Adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, left, speaks to members of the media while attorney Michael Avenatti listens outside Federal Court in New York on Mon April 16, 2018.

Adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, left, speaks to members of the media while attorney Michael Avenatti listens outside Federal Court in New York on Mon April 16, 2018.

Photo: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg

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Michael Cohen, personal lawyer to President Donald Trump, exits from Federal Court in New York on April 16, 2018.

Michael Cohen, personal lawyer to President Donald Trump, exits from Federal Court in New York on April 16, 2018.

Photo: Bloomberg Photo By Victor J. Blue

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In new financial disclosure, Trump reports apparent payment through his personal attorney to adult-film star

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WASHINGTON - In new financial disclosure documents, President Donald Trump reported reimbursing his personal attorney, Michael Cohen, for an expenditure over $100,000 last year - an apparent reference to the $130,000 that Cohen paid to ensure the silence of an adult-film actress who claimed she'd had an affair with Trump.

"In 2016 expenses were incurred by one of Donald J. Trump's attorneys, Michael Cohen," Trump reported in a footnote to his official Personal Financial Disclosure report, required of top federal officials. "Mr. Cohen sought reimbursement of those expenses and Mr. Trump fully reimbursed Mr. Cohen in 2017. The category of value would be $100,001 - $250,000 and the interest rate would be zero."

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That statement was couched in a footnote on the 45th page of a 92-page disclosure.

Earlier this year, Trump told reporters on Air Force One that he had not known about Cohen's payment to Daniels.

"Do you know where he got the money to make that payment?" a reporter asked at the time.

"No," Trump said. "I don't know."

More recently, former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani - newly hired as part of Trump's legal team - said in interviews that Trump had reimbursed Cohen for the payment.

The payment by Cohen to actress Stormy Daniels was made in the last weeks before the 2016 presidential election, as part of a non-disclosure agreement meant to ensure Daniels would not speak about the alleged affair publicly.

After the payment to Daniels was first revealed by the Wall Street Journal, Cohen acknowledged making the payment himself. He said he had not been reimbursed by Trump's company or Trump's campaign.

"Neither the Trump Organization nor the Trump campaign was a party to the transaction with Ms. Clifford, and neither reimbursed me for the payment, either directly or indirectly," Cohen said, using Daniels' real name, Stephanie Clifford. The payment to Daniels was made via a limited-liability company, Essential Consultants, which Cohen had set up in 2016.

The Office of Government Ethics, which oversees the financial-disclosure documents, said in its own footnote that it had concluded Trump had to report the payment to Cohen in a section that detailed Trump's legal liabilities over the course of 2017 and the first half of 2018.

"OGE has concluded that the information related to the payment made by Mr. Cohen is required to be reported and that the information provided meets the disclosure requirement for a reportable liability," the agency said.

In addition, the Office of Government Ethics released a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein saying that it had concluded that Trump was required to disclose this liability owed to Cohen.

Michael Avenatti, an attorney representing Daniels, on Tuesday questioned why Trump was acknowledging the payment - and his reimbursement of Cohen - now. "Was he lying then or was he lying now? He previously denied any knowledge of the agreement or the payment - and did so aboard Air Force One on video."

That letter was written in response to a complaint from a watchdog organization, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which said that Trump should have reported the payments to Cohen in last year's disclosures.

Before taking office, Trump said he shifted day-to-day control of his business to his sons, primarily Eric Trump. But the president retains ownership of those businesses, through a trust, and can take money out of them at any time.

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The Washington Post's Emma Brown and Beth Reinhard contributed to this report.